The Bank of Korea said Thursday it would maintain monetary easing for some time. That is, the BOK will remain cautious and conservative in raising the base interest rate.The central bank's position, contained in a monetary policy report submitted to the National Assembly, drew the market's attention as it came amid a prediction the U.S. Federal Reserve would speed up hiking its benchmark interest rate soon. "It's true changes in monetary policies of major countries, including the United States, are important factors in deciding our policy rate," Senior Deputy Governor Huh Jun-ho told reporters. "However, we don't make decisions based only on that. The BOK also considers other factors in a comprehensive manner, such as growth forecast, inflation, macroeconomic indexes, environment changes at home and abroad, and the stability of financial markets."To sum up, the central bank is unlikely to increase the policy rate during the Monetary Board's meeting later this month. That means, if the Fed raises its rate next month, the U.S. interest rate will become higher than the Korean rate in what analysts call the "reversal" of money rates between the two countries. Moreover, the rate gap may even widen if the BOK and Fed stick to their respective stances. Given the U.S. investors' excessive holdings of listed Korean shares, the reversal of the interest rate is sure to trigger a massive outflow of U.S. funds from Korea. That may not necessarily lead to the foreign exchange shortage, as Korea experienced 20 years ago, but will shake up the domestic financial market.The central bank's prudent monetary policy is understandable, considering snowballing household debt. A rapid increase in monetary policy will dampen private consumption, splashing cold water on the barely reviving recovery momentum. President Moon Jae-in's plan to revive the economy through creating more jobs and increasing workers' income will also hit a snag.Monetary policy ― raising or lowering the interest rate and at what pace ― has always been at the core of economic management. Amid the looming economic difficulties, it has never been more critical.